The Tampa Bay Buccaneers wanted to make sure not to put too much on Baker Mayfield’s plate with their quarterback still healing from a dislocated thumb and wearing a protective glove on his throwing hand.
asserted
quarterback → want → hand
The Bucs’ offensive line and defense took care of that.
asserted
line → take → that
Bucky Irving ran for 106 yards and two touchdowns as the Bucs racked up 258 yards on the ground on 49 carries, and Tampa Bay’s defense forced four turnovers in Sunday’s 43-13 rout of the division rival Carolina Panthers.
asserted
defense → run → Panthers
“With all of these handoffs, I don’t know, my thumb might be pretty sore,” Mayfield said.
uncertain
Mayfield → know → handoffs
Mayfield, who had missed the previous three games, finished with just 11 pass attempts in a game the Bucs led 33-6 at halftime following a series of Carolina blunders.
asserted
Bucs → miss → blunders
He had seven completions for 64 yards and a touchdown, and that was plenty for him to improve to 7-1 against the Panthers, including 6-1 since joining the Bucs (2-5).
asserted
him → have → Bucs
“He made the plays when we needed them,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said.
asserted
Bowles → make → them
“He didn’t need to make many.
asserted
He → need → many
When you have 49 runs, for a quarterback coming off an injury, that made the day easy for him.”
asserted
day → have → him
Young was sacked five times and the NFL’s leader in yards passing per game was limited to 163 yards on 14-of-27 passing.
asserted
leader → sack → passing
He had one touchdown pass but threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.
asserted
He → have → fumble
Tampa Bay’s Calijah Kancey turned Al-Quadin Muhammad’s strip-sack of Young into a 32-yard touchdown return.
asserted
Kancey → turn → return
Tampa Bay’s special teams chipped in, too.
asserted
teams → chip → ?
The Bucs recovered a muffed punt by David Moore and blocked an extra point and returned it for 2 points.
asserted
Bucs → recover → points
“Just really disappointing,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said.
asserted
Canales → say → ?
It really combined to put us in a really big hole.”
asserted
It → combine → hole
Young took blame for the three turnovers, saying, “I can’t turn the ball like that.
asserted
I → take → that
It hurts the team and that’s on me.”
asserted
that → hurt → me
Tampa Bay won the coin toss and elected to receive.
asserted
Bay → win → toss
The Bucs proceeded to march 70 yards in 14 plays, with Irving scoring on a 4-yard touchdown run.
asserted
Irving → proceed → run
They didn’t let up after that, scoring on five of their next seven possessions.
asserted
They → let → possessions
“We took the ball and just wanted to set the tone early,” Mayfield said.
asserted
Mayfield → take → tone
“It wouldn’t have mattered though, as I think the defense would have set the tone regardless.”
asserted
defense → matter → tone
Even when things appeared to be going right for the Panthers (3-3), something immediately went wrong.
asserted
something → appear → Panthers
After Young found a streaking Darren Waller down the middle of the field for a 50-yard touchdown to cut Tampa Bay’s lead to 17-6, the Bucs blocked the ensuing extra point and Zyon McCollum returned it 70 yards to the end zone.
asserted
McCollum → find → zone
As a result, the Panthers netted just four points on the TD.
asserted
Panthers → net → TD
YaYa Diaby had three of Tampa Bay’s five sacks.
asserted
Diaby → have → sacks
“It’s just that we know this offense so well,” Diaby said.
asserted
Diaby → ’ → offense
“They know us and we know them.
asserted
we → know → them
So we just came with a game plan and attacked. ...
asserted
we → come → plan
We just got after Bryce and tried to take away his first read and just be aggressive.
asserted
We → get → read
The Bucs had played 12 straight one-score games dating to last season before Sunday.
asserted
Bucs → play → Sunday
When asked where this type of game has been, Bowles replied, “I wish I had an answer for that, but it was very welcome.”
asserted
it → ask → that
Kuechly gets his Hall of Fame ring
The Panthers honored Luke Kuechly at halftime as the former middle linebacker received his Hall of Fame ring as part of a busy afternoon.
asserted
linebacker → get → afternoon
Kuechly also hit the “Keep Pounding” drum before the game and served as a broadcaster for the Panthers’ radio network.
asserted
Kuechly → hit → network
RB Kenny Gainwell briefly left with a hip injury in the second half but returned.
asserted
Gainwell → leave → half
He finished with 14 carries for 88 yards.
asserted
He → finish → yards
RT Taylor Moton, who missed the first four games of the season with blood clots in his lung, was carted off the field in the third quarter with a left ankle/fibula injury and did not return.
asserted
who → miss → injury
Up next
Tampa Bay: Host Atlanta on Sunday.
asserted
Bay → host → Sunday
The Aporia
